TOSA TWO HEART(Oglala Lakota)

Program Manager

Tosa comes from the Oglala Lakota Nation, specifically Pejuta Hutka Haka (Medicine Root) and joined FPF this year in February 2018. She is a descendant of Thunder Hawk, Jealous of Him and Cloud Horse. Tosa was born on the Pine Ridge reservation and was there raised by her mother Iris Gay, who is a fluent Lakota speaker and has taught the language for years. Tosa left the reservation at age 14 to attend Sherman Indian High School, in Riverside, California. Tosa graduated at Sherman as valedictorian of the 2008 class. Tosa was admitted to UCLA that same year and extended her stay in California for 4 more years to complete her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2012. In 2017, Tosa achieved her Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership/Management from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Tosa has worked in the Native non-profit world for 10 years, primarily in higher education access and community development work. She has done various mediums of art since she could remember, and had a very active and award-winning art career before attending college. She ran for Miss Indian world in 2015 and was awarded the “Native American 40 Under 40” the same year. She was a Native American Fellow at the Peabody Essex Museum in 2016, working under the public relations department.